Education minister nominee says sending daughter to study in U.S. was 'grave mistake'
Published: 16 Jul. 2025, 17:33
![Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, bows her head in apology at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/16/678192aa-f5cf-4dee-8376-cbb0b49d4124.jpg)
Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, bows her head in apology at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [YONHAP]
Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister and deputy prime minister for social affairs, apologized for her daughter's alleged illegal study abroad but defended herself against allegations that she'd wrongly put her name as the lead author on papers she didn't write.
“I sincerely apologize for the concerns raised by suspicions that did not meet public expectations,” Lee said as she bowed her head in apology at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly on Wednesday in western Seoul.
Lee came under fire after being nominated to President Lee Jae Myung's Cabinet for sending her then-middle school-aged child to study abroad without a supervising parent, potentially infringing on her rights to education in violation of the law.
Lee explained that her children’s education in the United States stemmed from her one-year stint there as a visiting researcher in 2001.
“That experience prompted my children to strongly express a desire to study in the United States, which is why we sent them,” she said. “My second daughter simply followed her older sister.”
She addressed suspicions that her younger daughter had violated compulsory education laws by leaving Korea during her final year of middle school in 2007 without her parents.
“At the time, I didn’t even realize it was illegal,” Lee said. “It was a grave mistake on my part, even if I was unaware.”
Under Korea’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act and related regulations, parents are required to ensure that children remain in school until they finish middle school. Schooling completed outside of Korea only meets this requirement if a parent lives with the child during their studies. Lee and her husband were active in Korea in 2007 while their youngest daughter was studying in the United States.
![Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, speaks at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [JUN MIN-KYU]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/16/5697bc8b-0762-41a2-866e-efd615edccf0.jpg)
Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, speaks at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [JUN MIN-KYU]
Lawmakers from the main opposition People Power Party grilled Lee over suspicions that she'd duplicated publications and taken credit for research largely conducted by her students. They argued that, in papers based on experiments carried out by her students, Lee should have been listed as a corresponding author or supervising professor, rather than the first author.
Rep. Kim Meen-geon of the PPP noted that in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, while professors often collaborate with students, the student who conducts the primary research typically becomes the first author.
“Lee listed herself as the first author even though she neither conducted the research nor kept the lab notebook,” Kim said. “Putting herself as first author was excessive ambition.”
Lee countered that, as the one who'd secured and designed the research projects, she was rightfully the first author.
“In STEM, professors often lead state-funded or commissioned projects that are then carried out with students,” she said.
“Those students usually develop part of the work into their own theses," she added. "The decision over first authorship follows guidelines by the National Research Foundation of Korea, based on each contributor’s role."
Lee said her students mainly assisted in executing experiments, saying she'd "planned the research, created the experimental framework and designed the methodologies while the students were essentially helping with the hands-on procedures.
"It is only natural that I was listed as the first author," she said. "I believe that was also the fair thing to do.”
![Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, rises from her seat after finishing remarks at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [YONHAP]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2025/07/16/189bdaed-f792-4f48-9de5-b8beb7e258c6.jpg)
Lee Jin-sook, nominee for education minister, rises from her seat after finishing remarks at a confirmation hearing before the National Assembly in western Seoul on July 16. [YONHAP]
Before the hearing began in earnest, ruling and opposition lawmakers clashed over witness requests and the adequacy of documents Lee had submitted to the Assembly.
Opposition members accused the ruling Democratic Party (DP) of blocking critical witness testimony and records.
PPP Rep. Seo Ji-young said, “We requested dozens of documents, but most were submitted inadequately,” while Rep. Kim Yong-tae stressed the need for “detailed records on the costs of Lee’s children’s overseas studies.”
Rep. Cho Jung-hun raised concerns that the ruling party may have obstructed the appearance of the former research ethics chair at Chungnam National University — who previously cleared Lee of wrongdoing in her papers — by failing to ensure the chair testified.
The DP pushed back, with Education Committee Chair Kim Young-ho arguing that Lee had submitted more than 95 percent of roughly 400 requested documents.
Kim also maintained that "names of research ethics reviewers are typically kept confidential to protect independence and neutrality," and that paperwork summoning witnesses may simply not have been delivered.
Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY LEE BO-RAM, LEE HOO-YEON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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